Holmes Helps Keep Cougs Perfect

PROVO -- Senior All-American middle blocker Russell Holmes' 13 kills, six blocks, and three service aces led the No. 1 BYU men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win at No. 14 Loyola-Chicago Monday to maintain a perfect 5-0 (2-0 MPSF) record on the season.

Senior middle blocker Trent Sorensen also recorded 10 kills on the night with a .381 hitting percentage and three blocks. BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said it was Holmes and Sorensen that paved the way for the win in Chicago.

"Again Loyola came out and was firing on all cylinders, but, again, we weathered the storm," Patchell said. "Loyola played great defense, but Trent Sorensen and Russell Holmes led the way both at the net and at the service line. Leandro Justen also came up big for us and hit three for four so we could give Ivan Perez a rest. Despite some shakiness in our offense, it was our defense that kept us in it tonight."

Patchell referred to Holmes as the "X factor" in Monday's contest. The Cougars dropped the first set 31-33, but came back to win the second 33-31 thanks in large part to Holmes' three service aces.

"If we would have gone to the locker room down 0-2 it would have been very tough for us to come back," Patchell said. "But Holmes really helped us pull that set out and we were able to do much better in the third and fourth sets."

The Cougars came back to win the third and fourth sets 30-19, 30-24 and end a three-match, four-day road trip with three more wins. For the first time in 2008, however, the Cougars hit below .311 as a team and finished the match at .237. Holmes and Sorensen were the only BYU players with more than five swings to hit over .300.

BYU will host its first home matches this Friday and Saturday against Cal Baptist in the Smith Fieldhouse with start times for both matches set for 7 p.m. MST. Cal Baptist is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA standings dropped two of three matches against the Cougars in 2007. The matches will be broadcast live on BYUTV, and live streaming video and live stats will be available for both at www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=201.

Volleyball Box Score
                             BYU  Cougar VolleyBall
              #1 BYU vs #14 LOYOLA (Jan 21, 2008 at Chicago, Ill.)
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4  CONGELLIERE, Brian..  3|  0   1   1-1.000| 13|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  4| 10   2  21  .381|  1|  2   5|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4|  9   6  22  .136|  1|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  3  0|  0
11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4| 13   3  27  .370|  1|  3   4|  0|  2| 1  6  0|  0
13 CHARETTE, Jonathan..  4|  9  10  28 -.036|  0|  1   1|  0|  6| 1  5  0|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  4|  6   1  18  .278|  2|  0   1|  2|  9| 0  2  0|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  3|  1   0   2  .500| 33|  1   0|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  1
6  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0
9  ROBINSON, Jeff......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  3   0   5  .600|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  1|  0
16 JUSTEN, Leandro.....  3|  3   0   4  .750|  0|  2   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
   TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  3|   |        |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 54  23 131  .237| 51| 10  18|  7| 43| 2 20  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  9  35  .086   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  4  32  .219   BYU................. (3) 31 33 30 30  5-0 (2-0 MPSF)
   3  18  4  34  .412   LOYOLA.............. (1) 33 31 19 24  3-1 (2-0 MIVA)
   4  13  6  30  .233
   LOYOLA                 |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4  Hutz, Mike..........  4|  2   1   4  .250| 53|  1   3|  0| 11| 0  2  0|  1
6  Anderson, Ian.......  4| 15   7  39  .205|  0|  3   4|  0|  7| 0  3  0|  0
14 Guntli, Joe.........  4| 12   8  30  .133|  0|  0   3|  4|  7| 0  3  0|  0
15 Leis, Daniel........  4|  4   1  10  .300|  1|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0
17 Berzins, Kris.......  4|  9   6  28  .107|  2|  1   7|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  1
18 Lamoureux, Nick.....  4| 15   1  21  .667|  0|  1   6|  0|  2| 1  3  0|  0
1  Kamberos,George.....  2|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
2  Morice, Michael.....  2|  1   1   3  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
10 Jensen, Derek.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
16 Baleiko, Matt.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
   TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  5|   |        |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 58  26 137  .234| 58|  7  29| 10| 39| 1 17  0|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  3  32  .438   Site: Chicago, Ill. (Alumni Gym)
   2  20  9  43  .256   Date: Jan 21, 2008   Attend: 813   Time: 2:15
   3  11  6  36  .139   Referees: Dean Hoskin, Roger Thinnes
   4  10  8  26  .077